


The Good, the Bad, and the Bestial - Caper the Fourth: The Madsen Connection

by LooNEY_DAC



Series: LooNEY_DAC's SSSS AUs [13]
Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-09-16 23:16:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9294044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LooNEY_DAC/pseuds/LooNEY_DAC





	1. You Can Bank On It

Sigrun usually loved a good heist, but this one was beginning to smell like a set-up. _Not only_ were they supposed to rob a specific shipment from a specific bank on a specific day at a specific time; _not only_ were there more and more guards drifting into the area as the appointed time drew near; _not only_ were the locals edgy and nervous, as though they were expecting trouble; but on top of all that, Doc Mikkel, the only one of them whose size made him stick out in a crowd, was getting far too many of the very worst kind of looks: the kind that said, “I’ve seen you on a WANTED poster, haven’t I?”

All in all, every instinct Sigrun had was screaming at her to pull the plug on this heist. One stint in the hoosegow had been one too many already in her book, and she was certain the others agreed.

Sigrun dropped her armload of stuff in the prearranged “abort” signal, using the ensuing hubbub to cover the others’ exits before making her own way out of the bank.

“Miss Eide?”

Sigrun had almost caught up to Doc Mikkel when she heard the call. Immediately deciding to brazen it out, she spun on her heels, saying in her deepest of Deep Southern accents, “I do not believe I have made your acquaintance, sir, and I am certain I never gave you permission to address me so freely. However, I am Ida Hornsby. Is there some assistance I may render?”

Confronted not with a criminal of shady and duplicitous mien but with a seemingly forthright lady of propriety who looked him straight in the eyes unhesitatingly, the man, actually the bank’s assistant manager, made haste to back down. “I’m terribly sorry, ma’am. I mistook you for someone else--a terrible habit of mine.”

Sigrun paused just long enough for the assistant manager to start sweating before graciously inclining her head and exiting the bank, her air one of affronted yet regal dignity.

*

“They _knew_ we were coming,” Sigrun growled back in their wagon. “And not just that: they knew _we_ were coming.”

“Should I get on the telegraph back to headquarters so they can find out how?” Tuuri asked, her eyes wide.

Sigrun’s face darkened further. “No. I think this necessitates a visit in person.”

Emil jerked his head up. “We’re headed back to Milwaukee?”

“Yep. Have Reynir hitch up the horses and be ready to move out before dawn.”

“It’ll take at least a week; maybe two,” Lalli observed. “Have we got enough grub to last, if’n we need to steer clear of trouble?”

“As to that,” Doc Mikkel replied before Sigrun could say anything, “I have some... connections en route who may be able to be of assistance to us in that regard.” He looked at Sigrun. “I also have a few such in Milwaukee itself who may prove useful, if we are undertaking the endeavor I suspect.”

“If you suspect we’re going after _Uncle_ Trond to see why he set us up,” Sigrun paused significantly, “you’re quite correct.”

“Oh, boy,” Emil said under his breath. He hadn’t seen much of the old man, but what he had had left him with the impression that Trond Andersen was not a man to be trifled with. But then, neither was their little band...


	2. Connections Good and Bad

Wow. This guy was such a bad liar that even Reynir wasn’t buying it.

Eventually, Sigrun had Emil put the guy in a headlock just to see if that would get him to stop lying, while Lalli casually waved his knife in various figures an inch or two from the liar’s face.

“Jimmy,” Mikkel said heavily, “when you got that abscess and I took care of it for you, I never thought you’d turn on me this way when I asked for a favor. Is this your gratitude?” He sighed. “Now, you can either stop lying to us and tell me who put you up to this and why, or...” Mikkel glanced at the knife. “...Well, I’m sure you can figure for yourself what’ll happen if you keep trying to con us.”

‘Jimmy’ swallowed, his eyes following the knife as Lalli brought it back and forth and around...

*

The journey was taking as long as Lalli Ghost-of-Forest had predicted, so there was plenty of time to contemplate what they’d been told. Emil and Lalli were each adamant that they hadn’t learned the whole story. While the boys agreed that Trond might be amenable to ratting them out for the right price, Lalli maintained the probity of Taru Walks-the-World, as did Emil for his aunt and uncle.

Fortunately, not nearly all of Mikkel’s “useful connections” on the way to Milwaukee were so treacherous. _Un_ fortunately, the ones who were, were generally better liars than ‘Jimmy’ had been. The trip to Milwaukee thus proved fraught with peril at almost every turn, or, as Sigrun put it, “The most fun I’ve had in a while!”

Typical was the encounter they had at an old homestead around twenty miles from anywhere and thirty miles from anywhere _important_. Their erstwhile hosts had been all kindness in their welcoming, without a hint of what was to come. Fortunately (though the others wouldn’t have thought so at the time), Tuuri Face-Like-Baby had availed herself a little too freely of the liquor cabinet, and Reynir had joined her, so...

“THERE! NOW I SEE IT!”

When the men came with their rifles ready, they found Lalli Ghost-of-Forest and Emil Westbrook waiting. After that, there wasn’t much left of the homestead.

Not so typical, however, was their next stop, also twenty miles from anywhere, and also an old homestead with a seemingly warm welcome for them. A drugged dinner later, their hosts were discussing whether or not they should bother cooking up Lalli Ghost-of-Forest with the rest, as he was “all skin and bones”. A hatstand fashioned from femurs silently said this wasn’t the first time this had happened.

That time, only Sigrun’s native sense of ambush had saved them, and even there, she’d barely managed to load the others into the wagon and get them well away before succumbing herself.

Once they all were awake and Sigrun had filled them in on what had almost happened, Tuuri had wanted to go back and feed them a few of Emil’s Incendiary Delights, but Sigrun was adamant about not backtracking. “At least two of you would end up dying. Let’s avoid that this time, shall we?”

Nevertheless, all the action certainly seemed to whet Sigrun’s appetite for the coming confrontation with Trond and the others. Even Lalli took pause at the _enthusiasm_ she displayed in her planning.

Her enthusiasm would not turn out to be wasted, though, in the end...


	3. Connecting the Dots

In retrospect, they were all lucky the whole of Milwaukee hadn’t burned down, though you’d have a tough time convincing Emil Westbrook of that.

Lalli Ghost-of-Forest and Tuuri Face-Like-Baby, however, were horror-struck at how near the Beer Capital of America came to going up in flames; Doc Mikkel asked whether they were hopping mad over it, and nearly got knifed before Emil and Sigrun intervened.

Reynir was just glad his braid hadn’t been singed.

Now, none of it could have happened in the first place if Onni Talks-To-Spirits hadn’t _finally_ managed to overcome his trepidations and gone to Milwaukee; nor could it have happened if not for a certain redhead accidentally getting plastered again...

*

Well, _this_ was certainly different.

Usually Reynir Saw various events playing out before him as though he were watching one of those “nickelodeon” things; this time, he was _in_ the events, as though he were just dreaming normally.

Reynir was standing by a lake shore beneath a magnificently dramatic and imposing series of cliffs, while a man sobbed his eyes out a few feet in front of him. After a few moments of watching this in increasing perplexity, Reynir tried clearing his throat a few times in an attempt to make his presence known.

“It took you long enough.”

Reynir whirled in the direction the familiar voice had come from and beheld Lalli Ghost-of-Forest standing behind some weirdly shimmery kind of veil-like thing. The thin youth only nodded before looking over at the huddled crying man.

“ONNI!”

The sobbing stopped. The man raised his head, exposing a face that bore a distinct resemblance to Tuuri, though in masculine cast.

“ONNI! Let me in!”

The man leapt to his feet and sprang at Reynir, grabbing him by the lapels and crushing him against the cliffside. He then growled something utterly incoherent before Reynir had even gotten his wind back.

Finally, Reynir managed to blurt out, “I’m a friend! Ask Lalli!” And he pointed to where Lalli was still hammering against the veil-like thing.

The man dropped Reynir, turning to face Lalli, and Reynir suddenly remembered something. “Onni... That’s--You’re Tuuri’s brother, aren’t you?”

Onni whirled back to Reynir. Behind him, the veil parted, Lalli almost falling flat on his face immediately thereafter. “You know Lalli and Tuuri?” At Reynir’s nod, he asked in a sudden flood of words, “How is she? Is she homesick? Is she all right? Has she been eating well?”

Even as Onni asked, Lalli was running up to him. Right before Lalli reached Onni’s side, Onni turned and reached out his arms as if to hug the younger man. When Lalli recoiled, however, Onni placed his hands on Lalli’s shoulders. “It is good to see you.”

Reynir looked around Onni at Lalli. “What did you mean by ‘It took you long enough’?”

Lalli looked at Onni. “That’s Reynir. He Sees things when he drinks whiskey. Don’t know why he hasn’t been here before.” Then he looked at Reynir. “Onni and I can talk like this when we’re close enough. Thought you’d talk with me like this before now. Probably need to talk about what’s up in Milwaukee now.”

“Are you in Milwaukee now, Onni?” Reynir asked.

“No,” Onni and Lalli said simultaneously. Then, to Lalli’s obvious shock, Onni added, “But I’m on my way there now.”

Reynir frowned. “Well, you might be in for trouble, then.”

Onni grinned mirthlessly. “I already _know_ I’m in for trouble,” he answered curtly. “I’ve left our homestead.” He looked back at Lalli. “You’re on your way to Milwaukee too, aren’t you?” At Lalli’s nod, Onni asked, “Does that mean you’re finally coming home?”

“Yes and no,” Reynir answered for Lalli. Lalli threw him a _look_ , to which Reynir said, “Well, it’s true! I mean, I Saw you both going home for a while, but not just yet, and a whole bunch of other crazy stuff needs to happen first! Sorry, Onni,” he added at the other man’s sad look.

“Is this true?” Onni asked Lalli gruffly.

Lalli shrugged and gestured at Reynir, saying, “He’s the one who Sees stuff.” He shrugged again. “Saved our skins a few times that way.”

Onni turned to Reynir, his hands still on Lalli’s shoulders. “I need to know what you Saw,” he said, quietly but firmly...


	4. Disconnected

“Why does the so-called ‘easy way’ always involve me getting slugged?” Emil Westbrook asked with a hint of justifiable petulance. Waking up with your head still ringing from being knocked out tends to annoy even the most affable.

“Your whining attracts too much trouble,” Lalli Ghost-of-Forest opined, essaying his familiar half-smile to let Emil know he was kidding.

Emil rolled his eyes melodramatically to let Lalli know it was okay. “Just gag me next time, okay?”

“ _You_ should talk,” Reynir grumbled. “They picked me up and threw me out the window as though I were a javelin with a braid attached!”

“And a noisy one, at that,” Doc Mikkel rumbled. “We should have knocked you out too, in retrospect.” Reynir made a face at him.

“Could y’all quit jawing and get to business?” Sigrun snapped from the front of the wagon.

Emil had learned to read Sigrun’s expressions and intonations fairly well, though her reactions continued to surprise him. Even had he not, the near-fury in Sigrun’s voice would have been clear were Emil a deaf man, and while he wondered at its source, Emil was not stupid enough to bring its focus upon himself by failing to follow her command.

So their “secret rendezvous” with Trond had been a bust, but that was nothing less than they’d expected. It looked like Sigrun was taking it a mite too personally, or so Emil thought until he found out about Tuuri.

Tuuri had been hit in almost the same spot on the shoulder where the Man in the Black Hat had nailed Emil all that time ago. Emil rubbed his own shoulder in sympathy. On the other hand, this was Tuuri, so Emil ventured to reassure Sigrun, “She’ll make it. _I_ did, and she’s tougher than me.”

Sigrun snorted. “True, but it’s not somethin’ I like puttin’ to the test.” The unwonted thickness of her drawl reaffirmed her rage, but her face had relaxed a little.

*

Tuuri recovered, of course, but not before Sigrun had plotted out the forthcoming assault on the Westbrook estate in loving detail. Emil was still arguing for his uncle’s and aunt’s innocence, but Sigrun was not nearly of a mind to pay him any heed. Nor was she too attentive to Reynir’s arguments that their foes had laid another trap at the Westbrook estate.

When Lalli brought back a weak and barely conscious Siv who bore marks of extended captivity, however, Sigrun changed her mind—reluctantly.

“Well, where _are_ they, then; and _who_ are they?” Sigrun demanded of Reynir.

“I—I don’t _know_ ,” Reynir stuttered. “…But Onni Talks-to-Spirits might.”

*

“They’ve got me, Trond, and Torbjörn squirreled away in a tumble-down tenement near one of the breweries; Siv and Taru are at the Westbrook estate as bait.” Onni’s voice was quite calm as he told Lalli and Reynir this. He jumped a bit when Lalli immediately vanished.

“We got Siv already; he’s just going to get Taru,” Reynir explained. “Can you tell me any more nearly where you are?”

Onni snorted. “Directions are useless in the Dreamworld; it twists everything around until left is up and right is backward, and you have to take three steps back-and-forth to go down a flight of stairs. No, you’ll just have to find me, but Lalli can, once he’s brought Taru back.”

“But who are they?” Reynir asked. Before he could hear the answer, though, he woke up.

*

It took Lalli less time to bring Taru back than it did for Sigrun to come up with a new plan, but it was neck-and-neck there.

“What we need to do,” she told the others, “is to…”


End file.
